Albert white



(No Model.)

A. WHITE.

VISE.

Patented Mar. 24, 1896.` Figi j] Vf UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT IVIIITE, OF LOIVELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES E.

IIOUSE, OF MANCHESTER, FRANK E. HOLMES, OF ROCKY IIILL, AND MIL- TON S.TRACY, OF GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT.

VISE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 557,090, dated March24, 1896.

Application led September 29, 1893. Renewed November 11, 1895. SerialNo. 568,639. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT IVHITE, a citizen of the .United States,residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inVises, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to vises; and it consists in the combinations anddevices herein- 1o after described and claimed.

Usually vises of the kind most nearly resembling the one herein shownand described are provided with a rack cast in one piece with orotherwise attached to the stationary or rear jaw and with a single dog,carried by the sliding or front jaw and adapted, by a.

partial revolution of a screw-rod or cam-rod, to be allowed or forced toengage said rack, the further rotation of said rod tending to 2o advancethe dog relatively to the sliding jaw,

but owing to the resistance of said rack giving an actual backwardmovement to the sliding jaw. In such vises the sliding jaw is moved byhand to adjust the distance be- 2 5 tween the jaws, according` to thethickness of the work to be grasped, and the work is then firmly clampedby turning` a lever or handle secured on the actuating-rod or screw-rod.The expense of cutting such racks is consid- 3o erable and the racks, ifcast, are so coarse as to prevent a line adjustment of the distancebetween thejaws, according` to the thickness of the work, withoutfrequently leaving the dog in such a position as to require a consider-3 5 able movement of the actuating-rod to bring the dog into engagementwith the tooth of the rack next in advance of said dog. This is adisadvantage, because the engagement of the dog and the clamping of thework are both 4o successively accomplished in less than a coinpleterevolution of the actuating-rod or its handle, so that the less theangular movement of the handle necessary to cause the engagement of thedog the more firmly the work can be clamped by the further angularmovement of said handle. cast or cut, if made too line will not bestrong enough to stand the strain and will be broken by the pressure ofthe dog, and the tooth or 5o engaging end of the dog, if made ne enoughThe teeth of the rack,whether to engage a very line rack, will for thesame reason be easily broken. To avoid these defects I make a verycoarse rack, which, being coarse, may be cast on the upper jaw and needsno finishing and is therefore inexpensive, and I use on the sliding jawa plurality of dogs, so arranged that the distance between the teeth orengaging ends of said dogs is not an exact multiple of the pitch ordistance between two successive teeth of said rack. Evi- 6o dently morethan two such dogs may be used; but in any case, when the distancebetween the teeth of two such adjacent dogs is divided by the pitch ofthe rack, the remainder will be a fraction, which, reduced to its lowestterms, will have one for a numerator and a denominator equal to thenumber of dogs usedthat is, if two dogs are used, when one dog isagainst the rear face of a tooth of the rack the tooth of the other dogwill be half-way 7o between two teeth of said rack, and when three dogsare used and one of them is in working position the other two dogs willbe respectively one-third and two-thirds of the pitch distance of therack from the rack-teeth 7 5 next in front of said last-named dogs,respectively-that is, as near as practicable-taking into account themethod of manufacture and the accuracy attainable consistently with thelow price at which the vises must be sold. 8o

I provide means whereby the dogs may be independently moved by ayielding pressure into engagement with the rack, so that when the toothof one of the dogs strikes upon the end of a tooth of the rack the otherdog or dogs will not thereby be held out of such engagement.

Usually the downward thrust of the dog is sustained by the actuating-rodand has a tendency to bend said rod and to make the 9o turning of saidrod more difficult; but I support the dog or dogs (this part of myinvention being applicable to a vise having one or more dogslupon aslide which sustains this downward thrust and may be placed very nearsaid rod, leaving to said rod merely the task of moving the slide in apath parallel with said rod. A

For convenience of finishing the cam-surface of the cam-piece, saidcam-piece is rst roo made and then placed loosely upon theactuating-rod, and upon said rod is subsequently Vi nnnovabl y cast ahub provided with a tongue to enter a slot forinedin the rearoi said campiece to cause the cani to rotate with said rod. 'lhe cani is preferablyloose enough on its actuating-rml to allow the working surface olf theearn and the contiguous surface of the dog-carrying slide better toaccommodate themselves to each other and to work with less Friction. lheactuating-rod is retained in a halljournal box or notch in the slidingjaw by ears rast on said sliding' jaw and holding the dog-carrying slideabove said rod.

In this vise two slides are used, one et which carries the dogs7 asabove intimated, and the other of which carries cushions or yielding'sln'ings which lnove the dogs into engagement with the rack, and othersprings are used to restore these slides to position when the handle et'the actuating-rod is returned to ils startingspoint. The sliding jaw hasmeans ot holding an extension-jaw which in'o'jects above the bench toheld work against pins in the bench.

In the acmnnpanyingdrawings, Figure l .is a plan oi" a vise containingmy improvement attached to a bench, a part of the bench and ol` theattaching-plate being broken away to show the construction of the slideof the front j aw and o l the parts supported thereby; Fig. 2, a sideelevation ci' said vise and bench, partly in section, on the line 2 2 inFig. 1; Fig. 3, a plan ot' the rear portion of the sliding jaw and parissupported thereby; Fig'. ai, a vertical cross-section on the line l etin Fig. (l of the vise and bench; Fig. 5, a plan of the dog-carryingslide; Fig. G, a vertical. section of the rear portion et' the rack andsliding jaw and a left-side elevation of the rear portion ot theactnating-rod, the cani, the dogs and springs, and their slides; Fig. 7,a left-side elevation olf the rear hub of the actuating-rod and the cam;Fig. 9, a vertical section on the line S S in Fig. .l; Fig. il, aplanet' thefront portion of the slid ingjaw, actuating-rod, andextensionjaw.

'lhe stationary or rear jaw A has a backwardly-extending attaching-platea to enable the vise to be attached by screws or bolts l) to the benchIl in the usual manner. To the under side et the attaching-plate a issecured a rack cf, preferably cast in one piece with said plate and withthe jaw A, and of the usual construction, except that it is preferably]nuch coarser or ol greater pitch than is customary.

The attaching-plate a Vis provided with grooved ways a to receive theside edges of the slide c olf the lront or sliding jaw C, said slide cbeing of the general shape of a trough and bein provided in the bottomwith a longitud inal slot [oi-the escape of chips and dust, all in awell-known manner.

rllie actuating-rod l) is preferably of wrought-iron or steel and isprovided with a handle d preferably cast thereon and with a rear hub d,also preferably east on said rod D and provided with an annular groove,the bottom of which forms the rear journal (Z2 of said rod and turns ina notch. cl in the vert-ical rear end e5 of the slide c. Thisconstruction of the cam-rod is similar to what lis shown in UnitedStates Letters Pat-ent No. 69,403, granted February 23, 1892, to me,except that in that patent said annular groove is formed directly in theactuating-rod. The front jonrnal of the rod I) may turn in a journal-boxE, which fills an opening e"2 in the .lront jaw (l, as described in saidpatent, er the piece Fl may be a hub rigidly attached to said rod. Ineither case the opening c? inust be of sul.'- iicient size to admit therear hub (l.

The cam d, instead of being east rigidly on the rod l), is made and itscaln-si'ulace iinished and said cam placed loosely oin said rod beforesaid rod is placed .in the sand :lL'or casting the handle d and hub (l.The hubd is provided with a tongue or projection d, which enters a notchd in the cain d, caus ing said eain to be rotated by the rotation of therod I). The spiral cam-surface (il is on the :liront end oi' the cani d*and has a greater pitch. at the rear part or beginning of said spiral.at (it.

A dog-earryin g slide F is supported on horizontal. ways e", which areformed on the inside of the slide c and its rear end is forced backagainst the cam di by a spring j (represented as a spiral wire spring)compressed between the trent end of said slide F and an inwardprojection, (represented as a transverse tie 67,) which may also :forman intermediate beari n for the actuating-rod D, said spring beinglprevented from displacement on the slide F by a stud j, which projectsfrein the trent ol said slide F and enters the end of said spring.

The dogs G G are bent levers, the rear vertical arms g g ol' whichextend down through transverse slots f2 f i in said slide F and areloose in said slots and may be turned slightly on the front edges ofsaid slots in the vertical plane in which the rod D lies to raise theteeth or `front ends j gi ol said dogs into enn gagernent with the rackd'. The front horizontal arms g (f of the dogs G Gr may be guided whenfalling away from. the rack by the sides of the depressions f" in thetop of the slide F, said dogs loosely `fitting said depressions.

Below the slide F is arranged the springcarrying slide Il, which moveson horizontal ways c, like the ways t above described, and is providedin the front part ol.' its upper snrace with a groove h, holding aspiral spring I weaker than the spring F, the spring I being compressedbetween the rear end of said groove h and a vertical stud f, whichextends down from the under side et' the slide F, the elasticity et'said spring I forcin the rear end of the slide II backward against thecain di. The spring' I tor convenience is arranged near one side of theslide II, and to avoid the necessity of accurate iitting and to preventsaid ICO IIO

slide H from being turned in such a manner as to stick in the ways c8the rear end of said slide H, at the same side with said spring I, maybe provided with a backwardly-extending guide projection 7L', whichbears against the side of the cam cl3. The slide H carries as manysprings or yielding cushions as there are dogs G G', these springs beingrepresented as wire springs J J', each formed of a single wire, one endof which enters a hole h2 or h3 in the slide H, the intermediate portionj or j of each wire being coiled around an upwardlyprojecting stud h* orh5, cast on or otherwise rigidly secured to the top of said slide H nearone side of the same, and the other end portion of said wire extendingnearly across said slide H and forming a iinger jg or jg, which pressesagainst the back of an upwardly-projecting stop h6 or la7, which limitsthe forward movement of said finger. lVhen the lever or handle d is inthe proper position (preferably a vertical position) to. allow thesliding jaw to be moved by hand, the dogs are out of engagement with therack and the lower rear arms of the dogs are in front of the iingersj2jg, but out of contact with said iingers or only in contact with themwithout pressure, and the rear end of the slide H is in contact withthat part d8 of the cam-surface which has the greater pitch. At thesaine time the slide F is against the part of the cam having the lesspitch. Now by turning the handle d both of the slides F and H areadvanced, the slide H, owing to the greater pitch of the part d8 of thecam-surface, at first more rapidly than the slide F, pressing theiingers ,i2 L7'3 against the rear arms of the dogs and raising the frontends of said dogs against the rack a', as shown in Fig. G, the teeth ofone of said dogs entering an interdental space of said rack and theother of said dogs striking a tooth of said rack and crowding back thecorresponding spring-fin ger or cushion. i When a revolution of the camis completed, the slides are restored to position by the springs f I,the return or straight part (Z9 which connects the ends of the spiralcam-surface permitting this, and by striking against the under side ofthe slide H preventing said cam from being turned in the wrong directionfrom its initial position. The studs h4 h5 and stops 7L k7 reach upwardfar enough to prevent the slide H from rising off from the ways c6 whenthe slide F is in position, and said slide F is prevented from risingoff from the ways c8 by ears c, which are cast or otherwise secured onthe inner faces of the walls of the slide or trough c and project oversaid slide F, as shown in Figs. l, 3 and 4, so that there is no dangerof the slides F and H or the parts attached to or supported by thembeing dropped out of the sliding jaw, even when the latter is removedfrom the fixed jaw. If it becomes necessary to remove any of theseparts, the spring f may be lifted out of place by its front end and theslide F may then be pushed forward until it clears the ears e9 and beraised out of the slide c,

thus releasing the slide H, which may then be removed in a similarmanner.

The slide F is arranged so near to the actuating-rod D that said rodcannot be raised sufficiently to disengage the rear journal d2 from thenotch c4, above described, without iirst removing said slide F.

The removable extension or supplementary jaw K (see Figs. S and 9) takesthe place of the block of wood commonly used to hold a wide board orsimilar work against vertical stop-pins inserted in holes in the bench,the tops of the jaws A being usually iiush with the top of said bench.Said jaw K is a bar or plate provided in one or both ends with slots 7.:k to receive loosely the actuating-rod D and having a vertical lengthsufficient to enable said jaw K to reach above the top of the slidingjaw C and t0 serve as an upward extension thereof, the distance to whichthe jaw K extends above the jaw C depending on the length of the slot 7aor 7s placed over the rod D, these slots being of different lengths. Theextension-jaw K is held in avertioal position when in use by said rod Dand by vertical ribs 010 cu, cast on the inside of the slide c, and whennot in use may be laid in the trough of said slide c, said ribs cm c11forming, with the rear face of the sliding jaw proper, C, and the sidesof said trough, a recessthrough which said rod D passes.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a fixed jaw, providedwith a rack, a movable jaw provided with ways, a slide, supported onsaid ways, one or more d ogs, supported on said slide and adapted toengage said rack, an actuating-rod, journaled in said movable jaw, and acam, carried by said rod and adapted to move said slide, as and for thepurpose specified.

2. The combination of a fixed jaw, provided with a rack, a movable jaw,a slide, supported on said movable jaw, two dogs, fulcrumed on saidslide and arranged separately to engage said rack, another slide,supported on said movable jaw, springs or cushions, carried by saidlast-named slide and caused by the forward movement of said last-namedslide to press said dogs against said rack, an actuating-rod, journaledin said movable jaw, and a cam, carried by said actuating rod andadapted to move both of said slides, as and for the purpose speciiied.

3. The combination of a iixed jaw, provided with a rack, a movable jaw,a slide, supported on said movable jaw, two dogs, fulcrumed on saidslide and arranged separately to engage said rack, another slide,supported on said 'movable jaw, springs or cushions, carried by saidlast-named slide and caused by the forward movement of said last-namedslide to press said dogs against said rack, a spring, arranged to throwsaid dog-carrying slide backward with reference to said iixed jaw, andanother spring arranged to throw said cushion-carrying slide backwardwith reference to said dog-carrying slide, an actuating- IOO IIO

IZO

rod j ournaled in said movable jaw, and a cam, carried by saidactuating-rod and adapted to move both of said slides, as and for thepurpose specified.

l. The combination of a fixed jaw, adapted to be secured to a work-benchflush with the top thereof, a movable jaw, sliding on said fixed jaw andprovided with a recess, an actuating-rod, journaled in said movable jawand passing through said recess, and a supplementary jaw, adapted toenter said recess and to be retained thereby in a vertical position andto extend above said iixed jaw and work-bench, said supplementary jawbeing provided with slots of diiierent lengths each oi' said slots beingadapted to receive said actuating-rod and by the length of such slot todetermine the distance to which said supplementary j aw extends abovesaid fixed jaw, as and for the purpose specified.

The combination of the movable jaw, provided with inwardly-projectingears, the actuatingrod having a front journal which turns in a hole insaid jaw and having a rear journal eonsistin g of an annular groovewhich turns in a notch in said jaw, the cam fast on said rod7 thecushion-carrying slide, movable and a spring, arranged to force saiddog-can rying slide backward against said cam and to prevent the liftingof said slides and said aetuating-rod, as and for the purpose specified.

G. The combination of a fixed jaw, provided with a rack, a movable jaw,aslide, supported on said movable jaw, two dogs, fulcrumed on said slideand arranged separately to engage said rack, another slide, supported onsaid movable jaw, springs or cushions, carried by said last-named slideand caused by the forward movement of said last-named slide to presssaid dogs against said rack, an actuating-rod, journaled in said movablejaw, and a cam, carried by said actuating-rod and having a cam-surfacearranged in contact with the rear ends of both of said slides, thatportion of said camsurface in contact with said spring-earrying slide,when said dogs are out of such engagement, having a greater pitch thanthe remaining portion thereof to move said dogs quickly against saidrack, when said cam is turned, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have signed this specifieation, in the presence oftwo attesting witnesses, this 26th day of September, A. D. 189:3.

ALBERT VIHTE.

XVitnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, GHRIs'rINA GILLARD.

